Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 38
शिशुकस्य शिवशास्त्रप्राप्तिः (Śiśuka’s Attainment of Śaiva Teaching and Grace)
सर्वस्मादधिको ऽस्त्येव शिवः परमकारणम् । तत्कृतं हि जगत्सर्वं ब्रह्माद्यास्तस्य किंकराः
sarvasmādadhiko 'styeva śivaḥ paramakāraṇam | tatkṛtaṃ hi jagatsarvaṃ brahmādyāstasya kiṃkarāḥ
حقًّا إن شيفا أسمى من الجميع، وهو العلّة العليا. فمنه وحده صدر هذا الكون كلّه؛ وحتى براهما وسائر الآلهة ليسوا إلا خدّامًا له.
Suta Goswami (narrating Shaiva doctrine to the sages of Naimisharanya, as typical of Purana discourse in the Vāyavīya Saṃhitā)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
Type: stotra
Cosmic Event: cosmogony (origin of jagat from the Supreme Cause)
FAQs
It establishes Śiva as Pati—the transcendent Lord and Supreme Cause—while all other powers, including Brahmā, function under His sovereignty; realizing this hierarchy turns devotion toward the ultimate source of both bondage and liberation.
If Śiva is the Supreme Cause, then the Śiva-liṅga is worshiped as the accessible Saguna support (ālambana) of that supreme reality—honoring the liṅga is honoring the very source from which the cosmos and the gods arise.
A direct takeaway is to center one’s sādhana on Śiva as the highest—japa of the Pañcākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) with liṅga-dhyāna, optionally accompanied by bhasma (tripuṇḍra) and rudrākṣa as Shaiva marks of single-pointed refuge in Śiva.